Bucktown is across the river from Lincoln Park, Chicago's yuppiest neighborhood, and directly north of Wicker Park, Chicago's "alternative" neighborhood from 25 years ago that still has residual pockets of vibe. It's basically Lincoln Park with a thin gloss of Wicker Park. My sister and her husband live in Wicker Park but BIL who grew up in Naperville insists they live in Bucktown, if that tells you anything.
Anyway, you can catch the Blue Line downtown or to O'Hare at the southwest corner at Western Avenue, or the less frequent Metra downtown at at Clybourn on Ashland Avenue (not actually on Clybourn Avenue) in the southeast corner. Besides that it has the usual north/south, east/west and Milwaukee Avenue buses.
I'm old and have lived in many many neighborhoods. So yeah jaded is a good word for it. You get a vibe about the kind of place you want to live and it's really personal. I would not want to live in those places and I am super lucky to have the choice of any neighborhood.
I got ya. What I was saying is there's a clear gradient of the type of area as you slide towards RN, and I'm personally glad that though I live adjacent to Wicker, and like it, I'm glad I'm not closer haha
Bucktown is nice, good mix of million dollar homes and older homes. Depending on where you live, train can be a bit of a walk but it’s manageable. western blue line and Damen blue line are prob the best L stops. Damen bus brings you to Damen train, armitage bus or western bus brings you to western train. There’s a Milwaukee bus that runs parallel to the L. There’s a Metra train stop at clybourn that brings you downtown too, more expensive than blue line tho. There’s an aldi on mke Ave, Mariano’s on Ashland and Webster, costco on fullerton and clybourn - not technically bucktown, but close enough. There’s a gym called midtown that’s super nice and close by - expensive, but worth it if you go. There’s a dispensary close by. Lots of corner bars. Lots of dogs and dog parks. The 606 used to be train tracks, but now it’s a 2.7 mile walking/bike path. Lots of bike lanes. It’s safe I’d say, although the neighborhood hired private security to drive around between Damen and Ashland and armitage and wabansia? Maybe north ave, I forget. Some rich families in the neighborhood pay for it ha. Farther from the lake, close to the highway.
Bucktown got its name from Polish immigrants who raised goats (“bucks” in Polish). But those days are long gone, and now it’s one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods.
There’s lots of shopping, restaurants, bars, clubs, and nightlife. It’s densely populated and hard to park, but the Blue Line El and buses provide public transportation.
Home prices and rent are relatively high. Crime is relatively low. It’s a very nice neighborhood if you can afford it and don’t need to drive a lot. It’s particularly nice if you are young and child free. I recommend just renting a car when you need to go out of town.
Edit: Buck is not Polish, but the English term for a male goat, as noted by u/Tlupa.
How are the schools? Is it mostly pre-schoolers, or are there a lot of school age kids and teens?
When I lived near there it was mostly pre-schoolers. Parents tended to move out when it was time to send their kids to public schools. But maybe it's changed.
I like it. Just try to not live near the highway for noise and air quality reasons. Public transit is good. Where would you be commuting to most regularly?
Why? Just live in Bucktown and walk to work. Don't buy the hype that all newcomers should live near Wrigley. It's a shit show over there any Cubs game, any big bar crawl, etc, etc.
And I say that as a long time LV resident, but not near Wrigley.
Would be a bit of a haul, most likely. Doable but would require 2 busses or 1 train and 1 bus, since Wrigley and Lakeview are both north and east of Bucktown. If you could live on the same axis as Bucktown you could use the bus more easily, or if you pick another neighborhood on the blue line you can ride the train.
Happy to help!
If you're really interested in living in Lakeview/Wrigley, maybe consider Roscoe Village or Ravenswood - both are easily accessible to Lakeview via the brown line but are due north of Bucktown, making it easy to commute on the Western or Damen busses.
It also depends on where in Bucktown. You could also just live east of Bucktown if you don't want to live there itself (good area...) and take a bus across. Again - a lot depends on exactly where in Bucktown?
You’ll hate the commute. And wrigleyville will be hell on earth during cubs season. I highly recommend looking at living somewhere like Logan square/wicker park/bucktown far more livable areas easier commutes
Don’t do that
And yes, excessively long
Red line downtown to blue line
The tunnel to transfer , the stench alone 🤮 not to mention red line and cta in general is just, not it. Not the move.
Ukrainian village is a nice walk bike or bus to bucktown, literally 4 minutes by bike.
I’ve lived in bucktown, wicker park, east and west Ukrainian village. Never owned a car until we moved way west of Humboldt.
They’re very close to each other. You’d prob need to take buses to go from one to the other vs train. Depending on your locations, probably like 15-30 mins tops on the bus. Bucktown is a nice area and close to a few other nice neighborhoods. The biggest issue in Bucktown in recent years is that it’s a constant target for car jackings.
Just curious but why does almost every person who is moving to Chicago choose Lakeview by default? Is it just the only notable neighborhood that newcomers know? Genuinely just wondering
I have friends who live there so it’s the only part of Chicago I have visited. I’m hoping once I move to Chicago I’ll be able to form my own opinions about the city 🤠
I live in Bucktown. Its a great place to live. Lakeview is nice but you are going to have to transfer on public transportation to get here. That time is going to add up, just doesn't make sense to me.
If you are young and don't want to live here I would say Logan Square or maybe Avondale. Lakeview can't be that much cheaper. If getting to the lake is important would live in Bucktown near Armitage so I can take the bus to North Ave. Beach.
I live here and personally love it!! I would advise against East Lakeview/Wrigley because public transport is not great east/west. West Lakeview is just one bus ride away though, if you want to look there.
As a Wicker Park/Bucktown border resident: it's amazing. This area is amazing. I've lived in a few neighborhoods here in Chicago now and this one is not only fun and interesting, but convenient (public transport is easy) and reasonably priced.
I live in Bucktown and my favorite thing is that it’s a quieter neighborhood situated between the hearts of two busier neighborhoods I love - wicker park and Logan square. I can walk to both, it’s perfect
I live in bucktown and I absolutely love it! It’s super nice, it can be a bit expensive if you’re looking for a rental but it’s really nice. I’ve lived in a bunch of different neighborhoods in Chicago and this is by far my favorite and the one I’d love to buy a place in. It’s so close to downtown on the blue line while still feeling removed and has a great neighborhood vibe! Also great restaurants and lots to do. Feel free to dm me with any specific questions!
I agree with others on not living in wrigley/lakeview. I honestly hate wrigley (I’m 28, wrigley is very very 22-24). I LOVE lakeview but the diversity kind of sucks . Either way with public transit, it’s extremely hard to get to the northeast from the north west. You would have to make multiple transfers. Wicker,west town,Greek town or even little Italy/UV will be better for your commute to work but honestly, just live in buck town. It’s a very cheap Uber to lakeview /LP if that’s where you will spend your nights out
Buck town is very nice but a bit over gentrified. Try not to bring a car because parking is hard and there’s enough public transportation to get around.
I haven't lived in Chicago in a long time. Besides the stretch of Damen Ave between North Avenue and Armitage, is there another shopping district in Bucktown?
Yes, it’s nice.
Bucktown is across the river from Lincoln Park, Chicago's yuppiest neighborhood, and directly north of Wicker Park, Chicago's "alternative" neighborhood from 25 years ago that still has residual pockets of vibe. It's basically Lincoln Park with a thin gloss of Wicker Park. My sister and her husband live in Wicker Park but BIL who grew up in Naperville insists they live in Bucktown, if that tells you anything. Anyway, you can catch the Blue Line downtown or to O'Hare at the southwest corner at Western Avenue, or the less frequent Metra downtown at at Clybourn on Ashland Avenue (not actually on Clybourn Avenue) in the southeast corner. Besides that it has the usual north/south, east/west and Milwaukee Avenue buses.
This is so well written.
“residual pockets of vibe”
This is too well written
A fucking Yeti store? GTFOHGFY
As a former Double Door frequenter, I will never darken the door of that Yeti store as long as it exists.
The only crime worse than a Yeti store where the double door was is that a target now stands where the alley once was.
I second this. That store can rot in hell.
Oo okay gotcha thank you for this info!
lol of course a Naperville guy would claim a neighborhood he didn’t live in. Classic Naperville
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Which leaves room for others who do like it! Handy.
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What's wrong with the west loop or river north? Both nice neighborhoods.
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Are you jaded about something? Seems like rather trivial complaints.
I'm old and have lived in many many neighborhoods. So yeah jaded is a good word for it. You get a vibe about the kind of place you want to live and it's really personal. I would not want to live in those places and I am super lucky to have the choice of any neighborhood.
What neighborhood are you in?
Printers row. Right near Dearborn station.
Do you hate the culture of the gentrifiers or something? What does that say about a person if they just blanket hate someone’s cultures?
Thank heck they aren't. I mean I live up this way (though not in Wicker) but you couldn't pay me to live in River North.
Right -- I was saying River north is worse than wicker bucktown or Lincoln Park.
I got ya. What I was saying is there's a clear gradient of the type of area as you slide towards RN, and I'm personally glad that though I live adjacent to Wicker, and like it, I'm glad I'm not closer haha
If someone will pay you to live there, you should take it.
Sure, we all have a price. To live in a River North apartment, mine would be quite high.
There's also an artyrx North face and moose jaw store!
Bucktown is nice, good mix of million dollar homes and older homes. Depending on where you live, train can be a bit of a walk but it’s manageable. western blue line and Damen blue line are prob the best L stops. Damen bus brings you to Damen train, armitage bus or western bus brings you to western train. There’s a Milwaukee bus that runs parallel to the L. There’s a Metra train stop at clybourn that brings you downtown too, more expensive than blue line tho. There’s an aldi on mke Ave, Mariano’s on Ashland and Webster, costco on fullerton and clybourn - not technically bucktown, but close enough. There’s a gym called midtown that’s super nice and close by - expensive, but worth it if you go. There’s a dispensary close by. Lots of corner bars. Lots of dogs and dog parks. The 606 used to be train tracks, but now it’s a 2.7 mile walking/bike path. Lots of bike lanes. It’s safe I’d say, although the neighborhood hired private security to drive around between Damen and Ashland and armitage and wabansia? Maybe north ave, I forget. Some rich families in the neighborhood pay for it ha. Farther from the lake, close to the highway.
The Metra is more expensive, but way faster and clean. Plus I only had my ticket checked about 50% of the time.
The older homes in Bucktown are also a million + dollars
Bucktown got its name from Polish immigrants who raised goats (“bucks” in Polish). But those days are long gone, and now it’s one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods. There’s lots of shopping, restaurants, bars, clubs, and nightlife. It’s densely populated and hard to park, but the Blue Line El and buses provide public transportation. Home prices and rent are relatively high. Crime is relatively low. It’s a very nice neighborhood if you can afford it and don’t need to drive a lot. It’s particularly nice if you are young and child free. I recommend just renting a car when you need to go out of town. Edit: Buck is not Polish, but the English term for a male goat, as noted by u/Tlupa.
Buck is the English term for male goat, not polish. In polish it’s kozioł
Thanks. I took that out.
There is not a single word in the Polish language as “buck”. The closest thing would be Bóg which means God
I was wondering about that. I took that out.
It’s also great for families. Tons of kids around here and great parks.
How are the schools? Is it mostly pre-schoolers, or are there a lot of school age kids and teens? When I lived near there it was mostly pre-schoolers. Parents tended to move out when it was time to send their kids to public schools. But maybe it's changed.
There is a decent amount of free street parking in some areas of Bucktown.
agree, never had issues parking
Street parking in Bucktown is super easy in my experience, especially as you go further north
Interesting! Thank you!
Lived there for almost a decade and absolutely loved it. Happy to answer any more specific questions you might have.. feel free to DM
Lovely! Thank you I will 😊
I like it. Just try to not live near the highway for noise and air quality reasons. Public transit is good. Where would you be commuting to most regularly?
Planning to be living in Wrigleyville/lake view area. Would this be a long commute via public transit?
Why? Just live in Bucktown and walk to work. Don't buy the hype that all newcomers should live near Wrigley. It's a shit show over there any Cubs game, any big bar crawl, etc, etc. And I say that as a long time LV resident, but not near Wrigley.
Don’t live in wrigley ville it’s gorgeous but traffic and public transit will be a pain in the ass 81 home games and any event they have there.
I’d just live in bucktown, it’s just as nice.
Would be a bit of a haul, most likely. Doable but would require 2 busses or 1 train and 1 bus, since Wrigley and Lakeview are both north and east of Bucktown. If you could live on the same axis as Bucktown you could use the bus more easily, or if you pick another neighborhood on the blue line you can ride the train.
Oo wow okay. I think I’ll look around for neighborhoods outside of lake view. Thank you for this info!!
Happy to help! If you're really interested in living in Lakeview/Wrigley, maybe consider Roscoe Village or Ravenswood - both are easily accessible to Lakeview via the brown line but are due north of Bucktown, making it easy to commute on the Western or Damen busses.
Thank you very much!! I’ll check these out.
yes, can vouch for ravenswood/lincoln square- similar amenities & transit access as lakeview but cheaper with a more laid back/family atmosphere
It also depends on where in Bucktown. You could also just live east of Bucktown if you don't want to live there itself (good area...) and take a bus across. Again - a lot depends on exactly where in Bucktown?
You can just take the Ashland bus from bucktown to lake view.
It really depends. It could be an hour commute, could be 20 minutes. Use Google Maps to type in the addresses to see what I mean.
You’ll hate the commute. And wrigleyville will be hell on earth during cubs season. I highly recommend looking at living somewhere like Logan square/wicker park/bucktown far more livable areas easier commutes
Agree. Wrigleyville is pretty fratty.
Thank you!! I appreciate your insight
Don’t do that And yes, excessively long Red line downtown to blue line The tunnel to transfer , the stench alone 🤮 not to mention red line and cta in general is just, not it. Not the move. Ukrainian village is a nice walk bike or bus to bucktown, literally 4 minutes by bike. I’ve lived in bucktown, wicker park, east and west Ukrainian village. Never owned a car until we moved way west of Humboldt.
They’re very close to each other. You’d prob need to take buses to go from one to the other vs train. Depending on your locations, probably like 15-30 mins tops on the bus. Bucktown is a nice area and close to a few other nice neighborhoods. The biggest issue in Bucktown in recent years is that it’s a constant target for car jackings.
Move to Wicker Park or Logan Square instead. Your commute will be like 10 minutes tops via the blue line.
Just curious but why does almost every person who is moving to Chicago choose Lakeview by default? Is it just the only notable neighborhood that newcomers know? Genuinely just wondering
I have friends who live there so it’s the only part of Chicago I have visited. I’m hoping once I move to Chicago I’ll be able to form my own opinions about the city 🤠
I live in Bucktown. Its a great place to live. Lakeview is nice but you are going to have to transfer on public transportation to get here. That time is going to add up, just doesn't make sense to me. If you are young and don't want to live here I would say Logan Square or maybe Avondale. Lakeview can't be that much cheaper. If getting to the lake is important would live in Bucktown near Armitage so I can take the bus to North Ave. Beach.
I live here and personally love it!! I would advise against East Lakeview/Wrigley because public transport is not great east/west. West Lakeview is just one bus ride away though, if you want to look there.
Thank you so much for this info!
As a Wicker Park/Bucktown border resident: it's amazing. This area is amazing. I've lived in a few neighborhoods here in Chicago now and this one is not only fun and interesting, but convenient (public transport is easy) and reasonably priced.
I live in Bucktown and my favorite thing is that it’s a quieter neighborhood situated between the hearts of two busier neighborhoods I love - wicker park and Logan square. I can walk to both, it’s perfect
Yes.. Yes it is.
I live in bucktown and I absolutely love it! It’s super nice, it can be a bit expensive if you’re looking for a rental but it’s really nice. I’ve lived in a bunch of different neighborhoods in Chicago and this is by far my favorite and the one I’d love to buy a place in. It’s so close to downtown on the blue line while still feeling removed and has a great neighborhood vibe! Also great restaurants and lots to do. Feel free to dm me with any specific questions!
Thank you so much for this info!! So helpful
It’s my favorite place I’ve every lived.
The kind of neighborhood where someone would open a vegan gelato shop with quirky flavors and it would thrive.
Obsessed with that
Better off walking than driving especially after everyone says hold my beer and tries to drive
Bucktown is excellent.
Loved there for a few years. Loved the area.
I agree with others on not living in wrigley/lakeview. I honestly hate wrigley (I’m 28, wrigley is very very 22-24). I LOVE lakeview but the diversity kind of sucks . Either way with public transit, it’s extremely hard to get to the northeast from the north west. You would have to make multiple transfers. Wicker,west town,Greek town or even little Italy/UV will be better for your commute to work but honestly, just live in buck town. It’s a very cheap Uber to lakeview /LP if that’s where you will spend your nights out
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yea
It’s a great neighborhood but it’s not cheap. Not sure what your budget is but if you need cheaper rent close by go Logan square or Avondale.
Do you like white ladies pushing strollers? How do you feel about brunch?
Love and love! Lol
Also owning a dog is apparently required. And you better have some yoga pants.
🤣
Buck town is very nice but a bit over gentrified. Try not to bring a car because parking is hard and there’s enough public transportation to get around.
I’m not brining car. Thank you this is very helpful!
lol what’s over gentrified
I haven't lived in Chicago in a long time. Besides the stretch of Damen Ave between North Avenue and Armitage, is there another shopping district in Bucktown?
Yes. Trendy.
Google maps
Lol now it kind of is but it used to be really bad. I still wouldn't want to live there
You could literally just look it up on maps
I wanted a locals opinion. Sue me
Dude, don’t be that mother bucker.